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Canoe Challenge

Students standing around leader getting canoeing instructions.
4-H Canoe Challenge Develops Teamwork and Leadership While Encouraging Communication Skills to Accomplish a Common Goal.

The WSU Colville Reservation-Ferry County Extension 4-H Challenge Canoe Program brings elements of traditional canoeing, experiential education and state learning requirements to create a canoeing experience that is focused and unique. Throughout the Northwest Culture Area and the Columbia Plateau, the canoe was a part of life, and the same essential lessons of teamwork, leadership and communication that were needed in the past to travel, hunt, and fish with a canoe still holds true today. Challenge leaders bring these fundamentals from our past into relevance with every pull students take across the water. The canoe is also a fantastic vehicle for students to experience math, science, language arts, and history in a setting that is distinctive and engaging.

The 4-H Challenge Canoe Program is located on the Colville Confederated Tribes’ Indian Reservation and in Ferry County. One of the greatest things about modern canoes and this program is portability; 4-H leaders can bring the canoe program to your site to minimize expensive transport costs. Your group is also welcome to enjoy the waters of Central and Eastern Washington with us; we have a camp facility in Inchelium, WA at the Twin Lakes Youth Camp. Also, there are many park sites and wilderness sites to paddle in the area.

Four children in a canoe in life jackets on a lake.
Youth Practice and Demonstrate Teamwork and Communication Skills During 4-H Canoe Challenge Events.

The 4-H Challenge Canoe Program has the capacity for about 33 participants. We have eight 16 feet ‘hunting canoes’ that are made of fiberglass. These ‘hunting canoes’ facilitate strong teamwork and communication between pullers. The newest canoe to the program, is a 25 foot ‘trading canoe’ that can hold about 12 to 14 people. A day in the ‘trading canoe’ is an excellent way to bring a group together and discover the power of a team “pulling together” in a common direction.

Schedule your experience today! Contact Kayla at 509-634-2306.